If you guys have been following my content since October and also some feedback from many automotive journalists you all are aware of the Brake By Wire system. From experience each Alfa Romeo Giulia or Stelvio I have driven has feel different in pedal feel, modulation and ABS activation under the same various driving conditions. The easiest solution I have found in my 30 years experience modifying cars is switching up the brake pad compound can make a massive improvement for a vague feeling braking system. Over the course of the few months I have owned my Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio I have tested various brake pad compounds from Carbotech such as the 1521, XP8, Hawk HPS, HP Plus and now the new Street 5.0 compound. As I mention in my video of the Street 5.0 pads the prior compounds I tested from Hawk are much older formulations dating back over 10 years. The HPS and HP Plus have a heavy iron content in their compound and have been know to have hard spots and wear rotors very quickly. Yes they work well, well the HPS not so much I just never liked that compound on any performance car I installed them on. the HP Plus offer aggressive cold bite and a higher coefficient of friction but are noisy. The noise is easily remedied on most cars with a normal power assisted hydraulic braking system but the Alfa Romeo system with the IBS by Continental is not one of those scenarios. The reason is the system is actuated with sensors and microprocessor switches using a unique algorithm to send PSI to each caliper independently. the problem is each drivers inputs will vary even from the different shoes the driver wears can make a drastic change in how these sensors react. As a result in low speed city driving the pads can squeal very badly, the OEM pads are notorious for this as the Hawk HP Plus as well. This is just something that has to be accepted as there is not solid fix I have found up until now. Since driving on the Hawk Street 5.0 for a few weeks now I can say this is the most natural brake pad I have tested on the Alfa Romeo platform using the IBS. There is zero noise at any speed. The modulation and release characteristics of this pad compound is superb and natural. This is what you want as a driver you never want an On/Off type of braking system as it can cause you to rotate the back of the car out of control at high speeds and also lunge you in traffic exhausting your daily commute. I strongly recommend this pad as an upgrade to anyone with a Giulia or Stelvio Quadrifoglio who dislikes the OEM steel brakes as their car was delivered. The upgrade is a quick 20 min DIY to install and they are an inexpensive solution to a known attribute of this cars faults in design.

For anyone interested this is the Hawk Part # HB 616B.607

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